Palin moves spark 2012 speculation

Sarah Palin is fond of saying she’ll feel compelled to run for president “if nobody else were to step up.”

It just might come to that.

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The recent departures of Mitch Daniels and Mike Huckabee from the 2012 GOP field, combined with a flurry of recent moves by Palin—staff changes, the purchase of a home in Arizona, the Iowa premiere of a new feature-length film extolling the former Alaska governor—is rekindling speculation that she sees an opportunity in 2012 and may be thinking more seriously than ever about a presidential run.

John Ziegler, a conservative filmmaker and activist close to Palin, said he believes the ex-governor is closer to a run now than she’s ever been.

“I have felt for a while that she is probably running and its seems more clear than ever that she is,” said Ziegler, who interviewed Palin for a different film, “Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted.”

“The movie is a great idea. I suggested a similar concept to her a long time ago and I am sure it will be fantastic viewing. I am concerned though that it seems there are at least some people involved in it who are not actual Palin loyalists and that its hoped for impact may be based on an overly optimistic view of the nature of the electorate,” he said.

Palin herself has stoked the fires with her comments, including telling Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren that she indeed has “the fire in the belly” to make a bid for the White House.

The launch of a new SarahPAC website last month also fanned speculation since it provided a vehicle to collect email addresses of her supporters and start interacting more directly with her potential donors and activists. Palin recently used the growing list to send a fund-raising mailer to supporters in South Carolina, a common strategy that those close to Palin say will continue to bring money into her organization.

“No ands, ifs or buts about it, Sarah Palin is going to run for president,” asserted Alaska pollster Ivan Moore in a column last week, pointing to a convergence of conditions that make the timing for a Palin campaign perfect.

The former governor’s aides declined to speak to POLITICO about her thinking, but have acknowledged in discussions about the 2012 race that there is an opening for her and have said repeatedly that no other candidate’s decision would affect her own. Palin’s camp has ignored outside pressure to commit to running and is privately eying July as the last month they could enter the race, if the former governor wanted to throw the switch.

For months, Palin’s camp has been talking about hiring additional staff and planning high profile travel — though much of it has yet to come to pass. Still, her staff is keenly aware of filing deadlines and is preparing as if she is running, even if they don’t know the final decision. Palin’s team also closely monitors the actions of her potential 2012 GOP rivals, particularly what the other perspective candidates say about her.